Baloo
|- |Source |} : “''Whenever great deeds are remembered in this jungle, one name will stand above all others: our friend, Baloo the bear.” : ―Bagheera '''Baloo' is a popular Disney character and the deuteragonist from the 1967animated feature film, The Jungle Book and its 2003 sequel, and the main protagonist of the 1990-92 TV series, TaleSpin. He is a sloth bear and best friends with Mowgli. Even though he's not the main character of the film, Baloo has, arguably, become the most popular and iconic. He was voiced by Phil Harris in the original film. Background Physical Description Baloo is based on the sloth bear in real-life and has blue grey fur. Personality The Disney version of Baloo is very different from the book character on which he's based. In contrast to the book, where Baloo is a wise old bear who teaches Mowgli the law of the jungle, Disney's Baloo is lazy and laid back. He loves to dance and play games, hates becoming upset and having to be strict, and enjoys being around Mowgli. Baloo thinks of Mowgli as his son just as Mowgli thinks of Baloo as his father. Baloo can be strict when he has to be, but doesn't enjoy acting in such way. Baloo is very protective of Mowgli and was willing to battle the jungle's most feared resident, Shere Khan, to keep him safe. My Disney Experience : When you're an easygoing bear like Baloo from Disney's The Jungle Book, life is all about the bare necessities. Appearances The Jungle Book Baloo is first seen eating and taking a stroll in the jungle when all of a sudden he sees the strangest thing. Baloo takes a closer look at this "thing" and the boy slaps him in the nose. He tells Baloo to go away, eventually starting to punch, although Baloo can't even feel it. He does the boy a favor and begins teaching him how to fight. Eventually the boy and Baloo become friends and the boy's name is revealed to be Mowgli.Bagheera, who is watching Mowgli, is ready to take him back to the Man Village. Baloo offers Mowgli the opportunity to stay with him, which he accepts gladly, but Bagheera does not. Baloo then begins to teach Mowgli about "The Bare Necessities". Baloo teaches Mowgli about eating ants and relaxing. He tells him to never work hard and to not waste time looking around for something he may want but can't be found. During a nice swim down the river, Mowgli is kidnapped by monkeys. Baloo tries to fight them off to save his bear cub but they get away taking Mowgli with them. Baloo shouts for Bagheera. The two know exactly who's responsible for this and they head off. The plan was of none other than King Louie, king of all primates. Louie desires the power of Man and wants to create Man's "Red Flower". He asks Mowgli, who he tries to convince by singing "I Wanna Be Like You". Mowgli claims he doesn't know but Louie refuses to believe. Baloo and Bagheera devise a plan, while Baloo distracts the monkeys, Bagheera will rescue Mowgli. Baloo dresses himself as a female orangutan and dances with Louie. They are discovered after Baloo's costume comes apart and a chase begins. The ruins begin to collapse just as Baloo, Bagheera, and Mowgli make their exit leaving Louie at his destroyed kingdom. That night Baloo and the others rest. Bagheera takes the time to explain why Baloo can't adopt Mowgli as his son. Baloo is reluctant to listen until the mention of Shere Khan, the tiger who seeks to kill Mowgli only because he's a human. Baloo sadly agrees to take Mowgli, knowing it will save his life. In the morning Baloo and Mowgli begin to travel to the village, although Mowgli doesn't know where they are going. Baloo tries to break the news gently but becomes angry when Mowgli speaks ill of Bagheera. Mowgli then runs away heartbroken, and Baloo and Bagheera separate to find him. Baloo searches in the wasteland home of the vultures, and just in time, as Shere Khan and Mowlgi are about to battle. Baloo grabs Khan's tail holding him back a bit. Soon enough, Shere Khan removes Baloo and starts clawing him to death. Mowgli scares Khan away with fire and when all seems well, darkness falls on Mowgli as Baloo lies unconscious and presumed dead. Just as Bagheera and Mowgli depart, Baloo awakens, revealing he's alive, and reunites with Mowgli. During their trip back into the jungle, Mowgli becomes enchanted by a beautiful girlfrom the Man Village. Mowgli follows the pretty maiden and returns home. Baloo accepts this and he and Bagheera return to the jungle, singing "The Bare Necessities" together. The Jungle Book 2 Some time after the events of the first film, Baloo is seen in the jungle creating a dummy version of Mowgli. He attempts to sing with it but begins to realize, Mowgli is gone. Depressed, and anxious to see Mowgli, Baloo sneaks towards the Man-Village only to be confronted by Bagheera and Colonel Hathi, They attempt to stop Baloo from going any farther, but the bear makes an escape with the help of Hathi's son. That night, Baloo sneaks into the village and reunites with Mowgli. Unfortunately, Mowgli's sweetheart Shanti begins to panic at the sight of Baloo, a wild animal. The villagers rush to the scene while Baloo and Mowgli escape to the jungle. Once in the safety of the jungle, Baloo is informed of the "tortured" life of the villagers. To steer away from the village life, Mowgli and Baloo reprise "The Bare Necessities". The next morning, Baloo is informed by Bagheera that the villagers are in the jungle searching for Mowgli. After Bagheera departs, Baloo and Mowgli head to King Louie's Palace, which to the jungle animals is a popular hot spot, to hide. There, Baloo tells the animals of the "horrid" village. Mowgli begins to feel sorrow, showing that he misses his village and his girlfriend. At the mere mention of Shanti, Mowgli leaves the palace and heads into the jungle. Baloo goes out looking for him and spots Mowgli reuniting with Shanti, accompanied by Mowgli's adoptive brother Ranjan. Earlier that day, Baloo and Mowgli advise a plan to scare Shanti off if she happens to find them. Following the plan, Baloo proceeds to scare Shanti. She learns that Mowgli planned the scare and storms off. As Baloo agrees of the negative side of Shanti, Mowgli blows. Mowgli rushes off the find Shanti. He finds them, but also finds Shere Khan. Mowgli and Shanti are perused by the tiger while Ranjan hides. Ranjan runs into Baloo and alerts him of Shere Khan. Baloo rushes to the rescue. He finds himself in the ancient ruins. Together, Baloo, Mowgli and Shanti attempt to confuse Khan by banging on gongs. Shati's collapses. Khan heartens to kill Shanti unless Mowgli reveals himself. He follows Khan's orders and a chase follows. Baloo tries to stop Khan to no avail. The chase leads over an open lava pit. Khan, Mowgli and Shanti begin to fall. However, Baloo grabs them while Khan falls into the pit. After, Baloo bids a heartfelt farewell to Mowgli as he rejoins the village. The next day, however, it shows that Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan visit Baloo and Bagheera every day in the jungle. They dance off singing "The Bare Necessities". TaleSpin Baloo is the main protagonist in the TV series TaleSpin. In this series, Baloo and other characters are in a world where animals wear clothing and live in large cities, much like the world of Mickey and Friends. Baloo lives in Cape Suzette, where he ran his own air-freight shipping company,Baloo's Air Service. Due to never paying his bills, however, the bank sells his company to a businesswoman named Rebecca Cunningham, who changes its name to Higher For Hire and hires Baloo as the delivery pilot. Baloo's best pal is a bear cub named Kit Cloudkicker, a former air pirate who used to work for Don Karnage and now serves as his co-pilot on the cargo plane, the Sea Duck. His strange, but incredibly ingenious, mechanic Wildcat takes care of all the equipment maintenance for Higher for Hire. Baloo enjoys the good life and can often be found hanging out in his pal Louie's tropical cabana night club. Baloo is constantly troubled by the business tycoon Shere Khan, the air pirate Don Karnage and the crazed military hog Colonel Spigot, among others. Although he still has claws on his toes like before, he has none on his fingers in the series. Jungle Cubs Baloo appears as a young cub in the series, in which he was voiced by Pamela Adlon. In the series, Baloo is best friends with Shere Khan, Kaa, Bagheera, King Louie and Hathi. Like his older self, Baloo is lazy, laid back, carefree and always looking for a good scratch. Baloo is often the leader of the group, although Shere Khan often tries to take the role instead. In the series, Baloo's all-time best friend is Prince Louie. The origin of Baloo's favorite philosophy; "The Bare Necessities", was also revealed in the series's final episode Sleepless in the Jungle. After a long day of worrying and pondering, Baloo was encouraged by his friends to relax and unwind for a bit, leading Baloo to sing his trademark number and revert to his laid-back self. In the Jungle Cubs: Born to Be Wild DVD, Baloo, as an adult, Mowgli and Bagheera are making their way back to the Man Village. Like in the film, Baloo tried to convince Bagheera to let Mowgli stay because of the danger of Khan; however, Bagheera denies. Along the way, they meet up with the old gang and reminisce about their past adventures. Cameos and other appearances In the episode "When Chaos Comes Calling" of Aladdin, Genie turns into Baloo and flies in the skies of Agrabah with the Zingalow. In this scene, he also transforms Jasmine into Rebecca Cunningham, Abu inKing Louie and Iago in Kit Cloudkicker. These transformations here are a reference to TaleSpin. Baloo makes several appearances in the animated series, House of Mouse, and is usually seen with King Louie, Kaa, and Mowgli. Baloo also appeared in''Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse''. In "Jiminy Cricket", he is seen sitting at a table with Kaa, Shere Khan, Mowgli and Bagheera. In "The Stolen Cartoons", he is temporarily seen in the background. In the opening, he is sometimes seen talking with Little John. In "Not So Goofy", after Baloo was finished with his banana, he tossed it on the ground and Goofy nearly tripped over it. In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Baloo is one of the many guests to openly enjoy Goofy's magical soup. Later after a mishap with it, however, Baloo and the other guests demand Goofy never to make the soup again. In Mickey's House of Villains, Baloo was one of the many heroes trapped in the kitchen when the Disney Villains took over the House of Mouse on Halloween. In the end, he and everyone else cheered for Mickey after he defeatedJafar and the other villains. In The Lion King 1½, Baloo made a non-speaking cameo in the form of a silhouette during the finale of the film with Mowgli, and several other Disney characters in watching the movie again with Timon and Pumbaa. Category:India Animals Category:Male Category:Heroes Category:Animals Category:Characters Category:Mammals Category:Animated